The future is coming quickly to Spring Lake Park schools.
Earlier this month, the school board approved a plan that eventually will put a computer in the backpacks of most of the district's 4,300 second- to 12th-grade students. Kindergartners and first-graders will have iPod Touch devices that stay at school; second-graders will have iPod Touches that stay at school; and third- through 12th-graders will have iPads that either stay at school or, for most students, travel with them.
"It's another tool for teachers to improve the engagement and personal learning for students," said Superintendent Jeff Ronneberg. Technology "is such a part of everyday life, and the tools and technology now are such that it's really become a meaningful and valuable instructional tool."
The program will be rolled out slowly. Although all teachers will have tech tools and extensive training by the start of the next school year, students' rollout will happen much more slowly. All students won't get their devices until February.
Not the first
The north metro district is not the first to put tech tools in students' hands, but the spread of grade levels is one of the widest in the state. Last year, Little Falls provided iPads to about 1,500 students in grades 5-12. Farmington is looking at a plan to give an iPad to all of its 6,500 K-12 students by the end of next year. Farmington and Spring Lake Park are looking at collaborating to increase their purchasing power and training dollar.
The Spring Lake Park program is possible because of a $1.06 million capital projects levy approved by voters last fall that included funding for technology upgrades and acquisitions. The final cost has not yet been negotiated, and will depend on whether the district decides to purchase the devices outright or lease them. In any case, Ronneberg said, the cost will be less than $600,000.
Having a one-to-one kid-to-tech ratio makes all the difference in how much teachers incorporate technology into their lessons, Ronneberg said.